The present invention relates generally to apparatus, methods and systems for filling containers with non-liquid materials.
Various machines and systems involve the filling of boxes, bags and other types of containers (collectively “containers”) with non-liquid materials. These container filling systems may be used for example, in the rapid, precision filling of large containers with hundreds of pounds of sensitive material in large scale assembly-line type operations. Various embodiments of these systems are sometimes referred to as “bulk bag”, “dry solids”, “supersack” or “FIBC” (flexible individual bulk container) fillers.
The effective and successful utilization of container filling systems may depend upon various factors, such as, for example, speed and ease of use, safety and purity of material. In some instances, safety may be a concern with respect to an operator having to reach out over, or across, the equipment to perform one or more function, such as engaging the container with the system. For another example, safety, speed and ease of use may be a factor when an operator has to carefully and fully clean the fill-spout of the system upon changing the type of material to be dispensed. In use of many current systems, fill-spout cleaning requires the cumbersome procedure of lifting the operator on a pallet with a forklift and positioning him/her proximate to the fill-spout.
Accordingly, there exists a need for non-liquid container filling apparatus, systems and/or methods having one or more of the following attributes, capabilities or features: may improve safety in the use, maintenance, inspection, cleaning or repair of the equipment; allows an operator to engage a container with one or more components of the system without having to reach out substantially laterally across the equipment; reduces operator strain in various aspects of the use, maintenance, inspection, cleaning or repair of the system; reduces the time or effort necessary for certain operations to be performed; allows multiple hooks or grippers of the system to be non-manually moved between positions; is not cumbersome; allows an operator access to various components of the system without the use of a forklift; improves the speed with which at least one among the operation, maintenance, inspection, cleaning or repair of the system may be performed; is reliable; is cost-efficient; is easy to use; is easy to implement; does not require complex equipment; or a combination thereof.
It should be understood that the above-described examples, features, advantages and/or disadvantages are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope or subject matter of the appended claims or any other patent application or patent claiming priority hereto. Thus, none of the appended claims or claims of any related application or patent should be limited by the above discussion or construed to address, include or exclude the cited examples, features, advantages and/or disadvantages, except and only to the extent as may be expressly stated in a particular claim.